Rise of The Crimson Blade
by starfighter-105
Summary: In the years after the Anglar Blitz, the Lylat territories become a haven for warlords and terrorists. The Crimson Blade, the strongest of the factions, spread chaos everywhere they operate, with only Fox standing in their way. rated M for V/L
1. Prologue: Crimson Rising

**StarFox**

**Rise of The Crimson Blade**

**Prologue: Crimson Rising**

It's been a year since the official end of the Anglar Blitz, however turmoil amongst Lylat and it's surrounding systems has grown significantly. With the amount of destruction caused over the past decade the the Lylat Federal Council has deemed necessary to greatly increase it's security within it's borders. This in turn has caused great distrust from the less populated Federation worlds. As the military expansion increased, tensions against the core worlds grew drastically. For the citizens of the fringe worlds, enough was enough, and the worlds of Kew, Paptoon, and Eledard officially succeeded from the Federation and formed their own independent governments. Within approximately two months Sauria and Venom followed suite as well. Although the separatist movement was less than thrilling to the Federal Council, war was out of the question, it wasn't needed nor wanted. All the council could do now was hope that the separatists would remain peaceful.

For awhile the citizens of the independent worlds prospered and lived freely. Their individual governments keep for the most part very loose law enforcement and small private defense forces. This would eventually come back to haunt them, being in the fringe worlds were most of sectors criminals reside. With in a matter of months crime increased drastically, starting from basic gang violets and piracy and eventually growing to warlordism and terrorism. In less than a year of the succession the entire fringe zone has erupted into civil war amongst the rival factions, with civilian casualties in the thousands. As the factions grew in strength the amount of corruption with in the fringe grew as well, leading to many of the leading factions to having a strong hand in the local politics.

Of these dissident factions, the most powerful and violent of them is The Crimson Blade. This bloodthirsty terrorist group was originally formed mainly by Venomain Army Remnants, Sargasso Space Pirates and Cornerian Rebels. It has now grown to a formidable fighting force with thousands of members and have seized control of almost a third of the fringe zone's trade routes and security forces.

With in the Federation all the it's citizens could do is watch as the fringe zone slowly destroys itself. The only course of action the council was willing to take was to increase fleet patrols near the DMZ to avert starting another major war. All was well with in Federation territory until a weapons factory on Macbeth exploded, killing two hundred people. The explosion shortly after was proven to be a terrorist attack, unfortunately the faction responsible and their reasons for the attack, remains unknown. As much as they wanted to blame The Crimson Blade for the attack, they had to evidence to show for. Two weeks later at the Corneria City Interplanetary Spaceport another bombing takes place, this time on a massive fuel freighter. The chain reaction destroys over a dozen other docked vessels and kills over four hundred. Much like first attack no evidence was found.

With nearly a thousand dead and the destruction of two major industrial facilities, all with in two weeks, the Federal Council knows it needs to take action. Knowing that a direct assault on the fringe worlds would only worsen the situation General Peppy Hare decides to "unofficially" deploy Special Forces and what few surviving veteran mercenaries to investigate. Despite the pubic views on mercenaries, especially after StarWolf's victory on Venom, Peppy personally recruits his old friend Fox McCloud to find the source of the terrorist activity.

Day to day life for hero of Lylat is becoming more difficult by the day since the end of the blitz, and has been drifting from world to world to make ends meat. After getting screwed out of his victory, Fox's reputation was virtually lost. With virtually no job offers, his team once again parted ways, this time for good. The GreatFox and it's remaining compliment of fighters and equipment have become upkeep and a logistical nightmare. But when his former mentor offers him this "unofficial" investigation, Fox knew he couldn't afford to turn this job down, not to mention being able to rebuild a name for himself again. Naturally Fox accepted the job.

The mission was to fly undetected to Kew's capital city Vega and capture Venomain arms dealer Rico Vanhorn for questioning. According to Federation Intel, Vanhorn is one of the main suppliers of weapons for virtually all the rival factions and has data regarding some of their key personnel and bases, and is supposed to be operating out of an abandoned warehouse on the cities outskirts. For Fox this should be an easy job, but little does he realize that the Federation isn't the only group out their looking for him...

Abandoned Kew Shipping Complex 23:17 hrs.

The night was pitch black and all was quiet, maybe even too quiet. Captain McCloud, clad in black urban camo with a 6.8mm Carbine Assault Rifle, pistol and night vision, slowly makes his way in and around large cargo containers watching for enemy contacts. After making his way the warehouse Fox notices that no guards are present at all, which brings some concern.

"_No guards anywhere, somethings not right. Must be ambush awaiting me somewhere_." Fox thought as he scanned the area more thoroughly. He then slowly enters old warehouse. As he slowly moved inside he notices that the building was as dark and empty with only old cargo containers inside.

_"There should have been at least a full squad here, what the hell is going on here?"_ Fox thought. As he makes his way to the middle of the warehouse he hears what sounds like light footsteps up towards the catwalk, he quickly aims his carbine towards the direction of the sound.

"I've been waiting for Fox McCloud. I knew you'd come eventually." An unidentified female voice from behind says. Fox quickly turns around and scans the area.

"Who are you? Show yourself." Fox demanded, within seconds a single light turned on and revealed a mysterious cerulean vixen assailant while holding Rico Vanhorn tied up at gunpoint.

"Your too late McCloud. This is my bounty. You should go home while you still have the chance." the assailant replies and pull the hammer back on her decorative .357 magnum revolver.

"Look lady, I don't know who the hell you are or who hired you but I'm taking him in for questioning." Fox ordered. The vixen then gave Fox a very sinister grin.

"You know Fox a second thought, I think I will give him to you. Do you know why?" The bounty hunter taunts.

"Make it quick." Fox replies, not exactly trusting this bounty hunter.

"Because I was hired to kill him." She says and shoots Rico in the right side of his skull. "You can have the rest." She then kicks the bloody lifeless body off the catwalk and taking five shots at Fox, emptying the weapon and grazes Fox's left arm.

"AHH FUCK!" Fox cries out in pain and lays down suppressive fire with his carbine, and quickly takes cover.

"As much fun as I'm having, I'm afraid I have bounty to collect. We'll meet again, I promise. Oh and by the way here's going away present for you. HAHAHA." the vixen sadistically says and throws what looks like a small 12x6 cube towards the middle of the building, and turns around and jumps out of the nearest window. When the cube hits the ground Fox notices that it has a Crimson Blade insignia on it and LCD screen with a fifteen second countdown on it.

"Oh shit." Fox said and began to sprint out of the warehouse as fast as he could while counting down the seconds in his head. At the three second counter, Fox leapt behind the nearest cargo containers and took cover. The warehouse then made a massive explosion fallowed by several smaller ones. Debris from the blast flew hundreds of feet away.

Once the blast subsided Fox got up and brushed himself off and scanned the area for assassin. After finding no sign of her, he brings up his wrist comm.

"ROB, this mission is over. Prepare for my arrival, I'll be leaving shortly." Fox says.

"Affirmative Fox." ROB replies.

After taking once last look at the still blazing warehouse, Fox lights up a cigarette and mounts his motorcycle and drives off.

_"Who was that bounty hunter? How does she know me? How the hell did she know I was coming? Why do I know this going to be on "those" missions." _Fox thought as he continued driving.

Authors notes: This story I have been planning on writing for almost as long as my first fic. Just so know I still plan on continuing my other one, and like my profile says this story is going to be pretty dark, and is pretty much one big plot twist with an irregular ending. Please give me feedback, and thanks for reading.


	2. Chapter:1 Damsels in Distress

**Chapter 1: Damsels in Distress**

GreatFox II. In low orbit of Kew 01:00 hrs local time.

After returning from his mission on the surface, Fox wastes no time and immediately heads for the GreatFox's bridge, not even bothering to patch up his arm. Even though his arm hurt like a son of a bitch, he knows he'd be fine and this report is far too important to hold off.

"ROB patch me through to Federation High Command." Fox orders.

"Roger that." ROB replies and brings up command's frequency. Fox then turns towards the projection screen and sees his old friend. Peppy frowns when he sees Fox's bloody left arm.

"Fox are you all right?" Peppy asks with concerned tone.

"You know me old timer, I'll be just fine. It's just a flesh wound. You know I have had worse. Although I will say it has been awhile since I've gotten shot." Fox replies with a sarcastic grin on his face. Peppy just chuckles a bit.

"Still the same old Fox. Anyways how did it go, did you capture Vanhorn?" Peppy asks.

"I'm afraid the mission didn't exactly go so well." Fox replies with hint of annoyance in his tone

"Why, what happened? Did Vanhorn escape?" Peppy asks.

"No, someone beat us to the sight and killed him, some blue vixen bounty hunter. Then she blew up the damn warehouse on top of that." Fox reports.

"A blue vixen bounty hunter hmn interesting. That sounds like Kursed." Peppy says.

"Who?" Fox asks rather confused.

"Kursed, an alias of course." Peppy says.

"What can you tell me about her besides that she's a real bitch?" Fox sarcastically asks.

"Nothing really, besides that she is completely enigmatic. Her existence lies only in rumors, up until now. She started to show up in whispers of the underworld about a year ago. Your the only person we know of to encounter her and live to tell about it. Can you describe her appearance at all." Peppy replies.

"Well there wasn't a whole lot of lighting, but I could tell that she was a dark blue vixen similar to Krystal. However she had blood red eyes long purple hair multiple ear piercings and the personality of a psychotic hyena. I know that natural blue furred Cornerians are extremely rare. Does the Federation have a estimated count by chance?" Fox asks.

"We only have a hand full of know subjects, but for all we know she may have dyed it to further conceal her identity. Most assassins make almost routine cosmetic changes. The only way we would know for sure is if we captured her and conduced DNA tests. Their again she may even be from a different quadrant of space." Peppy analytically says.

"I suppose that's true. What was strange though is that she knew me by name, and that I was coming. How could she have gotten our Intel? The bomb she threw also had Crimson Blade markings on it. I thought you said Vanhord supplied all the factions, including the Crimson Blade." Fox reports.

"That we know of. It's possible that He may have doubled crossed them, or maybe they decided to silence him from leaking sensitive information. The possibilities are endless, but whats most troubling is how they knew of this operation. Maybe they have a insider or a damn good computer hacker." Peppy replies with great concern.

"If they were able to hack our systems or bypass our security protocols, then they very well could have executed the bombings. It almost seems like their trying to show us how far their influence has spread." Fox inquires.

"All the more reason that why we need stop them, and with Vanhorn dead we have no further leads to link us with these terrorists. Were walking blind now." Peppy replies.

"What if I track down this Kursed person. If she is in league with the Crimson Blade, maybe we could get some Intel from her. It shouldn't be to incredibly hard, she pretty much made it clear that she wants to face me again. I know it's not much but at least it would be a start." Fox proposes.

"That's possible however unlikely, Kursed is a hired gun. She most likely only subcontracts for them and probably doesn't work for them formally. But any information she may have would be useful. If you could get it out of her that is. As far as her "interest" in you, that's impossible to pinpoint. Motives of people like her can be rather unpredictable maybe even slightly vague. I'm not going to order you to this, but If you decide to chase her I suggest using extreme caution. As you've seen she is extremely dangerous." Peppy suggests.

"Understood." Fox replies.

"As far as your fee goes, I'll see to it that you still get paid even though we lost Vanhorn. I know damn well you'll need the funds for stopping these criminals." Peppy said.

"I appreciate it." Fox replies.

"For the meantime I advise you to lay low and rest until we have more information. I would like to try to gather more solid intel then send you after some rouge bounty hunter." Peppy advises.

"Alright fair enough. I'll talk to you later. Fox out." Fox replies and turns of the holo projector and turned over to ROB. "ROB I'll be in the infirmary of you need me."

"Roger that Fox." Rob replies and continues working. Fox then casually walks towards the bridge pressure door but stops when he sees an old picture of him and Krystal that was taken just after they started dating, sitting on a table in the corner. Fox begins to ponder.

_"I wonder.. no..there's no she could..could she..I mean I did..No impossible. She's not that way...I hope." _Fox thought to himself and continued out the door.

Eladard capital city Casper. 07:10 local time.

Within a small run down apartment in slums of Casper resides the notorious bounty hunter know only as Kursed. To those who actually have had the pleasure of meeting her think of her as a sinister psychopath even to their standards, but an effective asset. Kursed however like to think of herself as merely misunderstood.

Having just returned from her mission less than a hour ago, Kursed kicks back in an old torn up recliner and cleans her blood stained revolver with a grin on face. The thought of collecting a large bounty always brings joy to her ice cold heart. After she finishes cleaning her weapon the twisted bounty hunter slowly stands up and glances at an old picture of Fox hanging on the wall, with an sinister smile.

"It's been awhile Fox hasn't it? Like my new look, hot isn't it?" Kursed says to image sarcastically, and puts her hand up to her ear as if she was expecting a response.

"What you don't, that hurts. Well maybe I'll have to do something about that then." She says and with in a blink of an eye throws a decorative dagger at the picture hitting Fox between the eyes.

"Ooh Fox that looked like that hurt. You should get that checked hahaha." Kursed notoriously taunted and popped a shot of brandy. Her crazed delusion was then interrupted when a transmission from her employer appeared.

"It's about fucking time." She said under her breath, and walked over to the projector and turned on the feed, revealing a tall black wolf wearing a black Venomain Army Commando uniform.

"Ah General Sage, at first I was expecting one of your subordinates. It's always a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Kursed says.

"Like wise. I assume the job was accomplished with out any real issues." Sage replies with a stern dark tone.

"Vanhorn had .357 tear through his skull, he's as dead as dead can be. And before you ask, yes our Intel was correct." Kursed reports.

"McCloud was there then. Is he dead?" Sage asks.

"Negative, I believe he escaped the explosion." Kursed replies.

"Unfortunate but we'll get him just like we got the other mercs." Sage comments.

"Don't underestimate Fox. He's highly resourceful and cunning, and by the way it was me not you and your men that apprehended the other mercs." Kursed sarcastically replies.

"Touche, now as we agreed on before the thirty-thousand credits are being transferred to your account as we speak, plus a little extra." Sage says.

"Aw General your flatter me." Kursed replied.

"I can't disappoint my best bounty hunter. Now as for McCloud I want you find him before he interferes with our operations any further. Name your price." Sage says.

"Dead or alive?" Kursed asks.

"It doesn't matter, as long as he's out of the way for good." Sage replies.

"Well if that's case I'll do this mission gratis." Kursed says, Sage was rather surprised to hear this.

"That's unusual for you. May I ask why." Sage asks.

"It's personnel. I'll report back when the job is done. Kursed out." Kursed says and cuts the transmission. She then turns her head back towards the picture and smiles again.

_"Well Fox looks like we'll being seeing each other again sooner than I expected, but this time it will be your last." _Kursed says to herself and pops another shot of brandy and begins gearing up for her ultimate hunt.

GreatFox II high orbit of Kew four hours later.

After tending to his to wounded arm, Fox return command deck of his aged carrier. While sitting in his typical seat, rather than monitoring the usual systems Fox thinks back to his previous mission again. The old picture and the resemblance of the bounty hunter has been bothering him since the end of the debrief.

_"This just doesn't feel right. Krys is such a goodhearted person. That psycho can't be her. I mean that bitch tried to kill me. But I just can't dismiss the resemblance between them. If it is her, what could have possibly happened to her that made like this? If it isn't her then what is she after and what does it have to do with me? I don't know, maybe I'm looking to deep into this or I'm just going crazy." _Fox thinks to himself as takes a sip of coffee. His train of though is interrupted when ROB signals him.

"Fox we have an incoming transmission from an encrypted source. Shall I patch it through the net?" ROB reports. For a few moments Fox sits there with a suspicious look on his face.

"Alright patch it through but raise shields just in case of an ambush." Fox replies.

"Roger that, shields up. Now opening the net." ROB says and activates the projector. As soon as the signal was opened all Fox can see is a warped unrecognizable image and what sounds like a distorted feminine voice.

"Grea...this is...do you...Are you..." the voice over net says.

"ROB maximize the signal." Fox orders. Rob then follows suit and with in moments the signal is for the most part cleared up.

"Great Fox this Katt Monroe, are you receiving this?" Katt says over the net.

"I read you Katt. Long time no see. Whats going on?" Fox asks curious of her highly random calling.

"No time for pleasantries Fox. I need your help and fast." Katt desperately says and looks behind her just in case.

"Whats going on? Are you all right? Where are you." Fox asks now rather concerned knowing of some Katt's past dealings.

"I've been captured by the Crimson Blade. Why, I have no fucking clue, but I did managed to escape my cell but I'm still trapped inside this facility, which appears to be on Papetoon." Katt says.

"Alright whats your status?" Fox asks.

"I'm currently in their secondary communications and networking hub. But I can't stay here for much longer. I escaped a couple of hours ago, so they have to be looking for me by now." Katt replies.

"Ok Katt find a safe haven. I'll get there ASAP just send me the coordinates." Fox says.

"Thank you Fox. The location is JH-2298-6741. A word of caution though, this place is crawling with insurgents. When you get inside, get your hands on one of their hand held radios and set it to frequency 351 and contact me when you do. It should be a secure channel for awhile. Also I did a scan of the bases radar and anti-air defenses. They are effective to altitudes of thirty-thousand feet. So be careful." Katt advises.

"Thanks for the heads up." Fox replies. Katt then looks behind her with a concerned look on her face.

"Fox I think I hear someone coming. I gotta go. Please hurry!" Katt pleads and cuts the transmission.

"Katt you there? Are you OK?" Fox asks but gets no response.

"ROB set course for Papetoon immediately, full power." Fox orders.

"Affirmative Fox, calculating jump coordinates. ETA 2.5 hours." ROB replies.

"Roger that. When we exit warp transit take us into the atmosphere and set up for HALO incursion." Fox orders.

Authors notes: The beginning of the plot. Who is this Sage guy, and why was Katt captured? Only time will tell. Anyways thanks for reading and reviewing.


	3. Chapter:2 Desert Fox

**Chapter 2: Desert Fox**

In the skies of Papetoon 05:20 local time, two hours and forty-five minutes later.

It's been less than fifteen minutes since the massive carrier exited warp and made it's decent into the atmosphere, so far there seems to be no issues or threat. The GreatFox itself is now holding position high above the clouds over the terrorists base. Standing at the far end of the hanger just shy of the bay doors, Fox suits up and makes final preparations for HALO (High Altitude jump w/ Low Opening canopy). Despite the risk, Fox personally admits that he's rather excited for this. He hasn't done a HALO jump in years.

"How are we doing ROB?" Fox over his wrist com as he puts on a oxygen mask.

"GreatFox is currently holding at fifty-thousand feet AGR (Above Ground Level). Chance of enemy detection is minimal. Current time is 05:20, the sun has not risen yet. Wind-speed is at 45 km due south. Surface temperature is 85' Fahrenheit. Conditions for HALO are optimal." ROB reports.

"Good, open bay doors." Fox orders while he slings his carbine. As the doors slowly open, Fox feels a slight rush of wind pushing him back about a foot or so. After he repositions himself he does one final Pre Combat Check (PCC).

"_Weapons check, grenades check, ammo check, Med-Kit check, Hi-Def Display check, O2 check, altimeter settings check, armor check, chute check..I sure hope at least._ OK ROB final checks are complete. We are a go. After I jump proceed directly into orbit, but have the gunship on stand-bye for immediate dust-off. I have a feeling this might get messy. Watch for enemy aircraft." Fox says.

"Affirmative, you are clear to jump. Good luck Fox." ROB replies.

"Thanks, I'm gonna need it._ Here goes nothing._" Fox says and sprints towards the door and makes his leap of faith.

The dark morning sky makes it difficult for Fox to see as he soars downward. The rush of air makes it difficult for him to remain stable, but he makes due. As he continues what seems like and endless free-fall, he closely monitors the altimeter gauge on his wrist com. One false move could be the end. At the ten thousand feet counter Fox readies himself to deploy the chute for approximately six thousand.

"_Nine thousand...Eight thousand...Seven thousand...NOW!"_ Fox thinks to himself and deploys his chute without any issues.

_"So far so good."_ Fox says to himself as he glides slowly to the ground below. As he glides down, he tries to get somewhat of a visual of the surrounding terrain, but still being a few thousand feet in the air and still somewhat dark yet, he has little luck.

With in a few minutes Fox could now tell he was only a couple hundred feet in the air, and was now preparing to touch down, little does he realize whats below him.

_"Alright, get ready to touch down, um wait..What the hell is that?_ Aw son of a bitch." Fox says as tries to guide the chute away from the anomaly, unfortunately he was too late, and ends up in a tree.

_"FUCK, the one tree in a hundred GOD DAMN meters, and I get caught in it. Well I suppose it could worse. It doesn't look too high up."_ Fox thinks himself rather annoyed, now dangling from the tree. He then removes his oxygen mask and pulls out his twelve inch carbon steel combat knife, and starts cutting himself free. After he manages to cut himself free, he lets himself ungracefully fall to the ground. Once he regains his composure he dusts himself and his carbine off and pulls out his Hi-Def Display to scout out the area.

_"Let's have a look at our buddies. OK I got two insurgent walking the perimeter. Distance 500m, one is armed with a blaster rifle the other with 9mm SMG. No entrance spotted. Hvy Machine gun nest 100m left on the ridge, avoid at all costs. Don't see any sniper towers. Ah here we go_, _one guard by that hanger, distance 450m, looks like he has an assault rifle. Doesn't look like he's paying much attention either. That's my ticket in." _Fox thinks to himself calculating the best area of approach. He then secures his Hi-Def Display to his bandoleer, and pulls out a 30rnd 6.8mm magazine and loads his carbine.

"It's show time." Fox quietly says and eagerly charges his carbine and turns on its reflex sight. Like a wraith, Fox quickly and silently moves in and around the perimeter defenses, towards the terrorist stronghold.

Outside the secondary hanger a lone lynx Crimson Blade insurgent impatiently passes back and forth in front of the main doors, desperately waiting for his shift to end.

"I fucking hate the night shift." The lynx says and takes a quick look through his binoculars.

"Gee what do ya know, not a damn thing out there. What waist of my time." The lynx sarcastically says and takes out his hand held radio.

"Control this sentry twelve. There ain't no sign of that pink bitch. When are we changing the..." The insurgent is then interrupted by what sounded like a whistle.

"Control wait one." The lynx says and begins walking towards the sound.

"Who's out there? Is that you Vic?" The insurgent walks out a bit further and falls dead to ground as a perfectly thrown combat knife, flies out of the shadows and straight through his left cornea. Fox then appears from night and recovers his bloodstained knife and the guards radio.

"Guess again?" Fox says to the lifeless corpse and sets the radio to Katt's frequency. All he do is now is hope that she's still alive.

"Katt this is Fox. Do you copy, over?" Fox says hoping his old friend would reply.

"I read you loud and clear. It's good to hear a friendly voice. Where are you at?" Katt replies.

"I'm in the eastern hanger. Where are you?" Fox asks.

"I've sealed myself in the main surveillance room on the sixth level. Hold on one sec, OK I have a visual on you now." Katt replies.

"How far am I from you?" Fox asks.

"Take the right door on the end of the hanger. Then follow the hallway all the way down and take a left. You'll see an elevator not far from there. Take the elevator to the sixth floor. I'll guide you from there." Katt advises as she closely monitors the computer screen in front of her.

"OK now how many troops are wondering this hallway by chance?" Fox asks thinking this sounds too easy.

"I see one solider by the elevator, and it looks like two more are searching for me in the adjacent hallway. Most of troops seem to be in the upper floors. Their probably on my trail. All I have is a 9mm pistol that I stole from one of the prison guards. If they trap me here, I won't be able to hold them for long. You have to hurry Fox." Katt replies.

"Roger that, I'm on my way. Keep in touch. Fox out." Fox says and begins to move across the hanger. Once he reaches the door he activates it and stacks up on the wall beside it. The two insurgents down the hall take notice and begin moving towards it.

"Who's there? Identify yourself now!" One of the insurgents orders. In a flash the intruder pops out and fires a quick five shot burst, that tears through his comrades chest and returns to his cover position. The insurgent then opens fire with his SMG towards the corner of the door that Fox was hiding behind, and unloads his entire magazine. Fox then seizes the opportunity and comes out and unleashes a single shot. The last thing the insurgent sees is the muzzle flash of Fox's carbine, before a single 6.8mm slug punches straight through his skull.

"Nice shooting sure shot." Fox sarcastically says to the dead trooper and proceeds down hall further hoping that no one heard the shooting. As Fox nears the first intersection two insurgents appear from each corner. Fox quickly dives to ground.

_"SHIT, I thought Katt said there was only one more."_ Fox thinks to himself as had puts three shots into each of the soldiers chests. No sooner after Fox gets up does his radio go off.

"Fox you need to get to that elevator and fast. I think more enemy troops are moving down stairs." Katt warns.

"Oh Great, alright hold I'm almost there. How many soldiers we talking now?" Fox replies as he sprints around the corner towards the elevator.

"At least a squad, maybe two... Um wait one..." Katt says rather nervous for the computer screen turns red.

"Whats up Katt? Katt give me a Sit-Rep. Talk to me." Fox says as he stops in front of the elevator.

"Oh shit." Katt says and frantically start typing.

"What do you mean oh shit? That can't good. What is going.." Before Fox finishes the hallway lights turn red and the alarm and automated emergency voice over protocol kicks in."_Emergency, Intruder alert. All personnel prepare for combat. Security and base lock-down now in affect. This is not a drill."_

"Fox they locked out me of the system. I can't do anything or see anything right now. All the screens are blank. Get on that elevator NOW! It should still work, but you have to hurry." Katt orders.

"I'm there, I'm just waiting for it come down. It's almost here." Fox replies, as he eagerly waits he starts to hear numerous footsteps coming towards him from both his left and rights sides.

"_Not good. HURRY THE FUCK UP YOU DAMN ELEVATOR!"_ Fox thinks to himself. As the footsteps from right side become louder, Fox starts to sweat. He knows he's got to fight, acting on his commando instinct, he quickly backs away and turns towards the incoming enemy and drops to one knee. In his mind he counts five insurgents, and fires controlled bursts at the enemy, killing all of them. At the corner of his eye he then sees the elevator door open.

"_It's about damn time."_ Fox thinks to himself and notices the footsteps behind are getting much closer. He then sprints to inside the elevator and pulls out one of his grenades.

"Try this on for size." Fox says and lobs the explosive out of the door towards the enemy just before the door shuts. It is unknown to Fox whether the blast killed anyone or not, but it at least slowed down the enemy for the moment, and that's all he cares about now. Once the elevator starts to move upwards, Fox lets out a sigh of relief and changes his empty 6.8mm magazine.

"_That was too close_." He thinks to himself and grabs the radio." OK Katt on the elevator. I'll be up there momentarily. What's your status and who do I get where you are from here?" Fox says.

"Ok once you get off the elevator there's three-way intersection. Go straight ahead approximately one-hundred meters then should be a right turn. Its the large heavily secure doorway." Katt replies.

"OK that shouldn't be too hard to find. How much resistance are we talking now?" Fox asks as he watches the elevator's level screen.

"A lot so be careful. I would say at least... Wait.. Oh God. Fox they breaching the door. I have to go. PLEASE HURRY." Katt frantically says followed by several gunshots, then nothing.

"KATT, DO YOU COPY? KATT?" Fox yells over the radio, but receives no reply.

"_This is not good at all."_ Fox thinks to himself.

Authors notes: Lots of shooting and only more shooting to come. I know you all like it when the bullets fly, and believe me their will be plenty. And before you ask the reason Katt was captured will be revealed with in the next few chapters along with more info about the enemies themselves. Hope you've enjoyed and thanks for reading and reviewing.


	4. Chapter:3 Run&Gun

**Chapter 3: Run & Gun**

Crimson Blade outpost 06:00 local time.

Inside the claustrophobic elevator, Fox closely watches the floor indicator. Countless thoughts tear into his mind, especially the thought of losing yet another close friend. As the years have gone by since the Lylat Wars he's lost dozens of his close friends, for him enough was enough. Not one more. And he's going to make sure of it.

_"I'm going to get you out of here Katt. You have my word." _Fox says to himself.

As Fox looked at the floor indicator again it would only be a matter of seconds before he arrives to the sixth level. He immediately readied a flash bang and took up fire position along the corner.

"Here we go again." Fox says as the elevator reached it location.

As the doors open up he could hear the sounds of multiple weapons being charged. Fox then peeked his head out just slightly and was able to an entire squad of troops in fire positions awaiting for him to make his move.

"_Figures."_ Fox says to himself as he slowly pulls the pin of his flash bang.

"We got you cornered commando. You got no where to go. Drop your weapons and come out with your hands up." The squad sergeant orders.

"I think not." Fox says and throws the flash bang towards the crowd of soldiers and quickly recovers his position and shields his eyes and ears.

Fox's high yield flash bang disorients the entire squad. He then moves and and switches his carbine to fully automatic and unleashes a furry of lead on to unlucky terrorists. Having expended the entire magazine he at least killed all of them. Rather than changing mags his decides to switch to his pistol, figuring more troops would be bearing down on him with in seconds. He was correct as two more soldiers sprinted down the hallways towards him firing sporadically and not really aiming. Fox takes two shots at the closest insurgent, hitting her in the chest and the head. Before Fox was able to take any shots at the other solider he was able to feel the slight heat of a plasma burst zip past his left thigh only inches away, which distracted him for a brief second. He then followed up by taking three shot putting each into incoming insurgents chest killing him instantly.

After the last insurgent fall to the floor Fox spun around and checked his corners for any additional enemies. Once he knew the coast was clear his adrenaline died down and bit. He didn't realize before how much of a bloody mess the hallways ended up. Knowing that he needed to move on he quickly changes the magazines on his carbine and pistol. Fox quickly moves forward. He could see the next intersection ahead. Before he reached the corner he takes another look behind him just in case. He then peers around the corner and doesn't see any one but a large blast door that's been pried open about two and half feet.

"That's gotta be it. I just hope they don't pin me down here." Fox quietly says and moves closer to the door and notices fresh blood trickling down the edges of the jarred door. Seeing this makes his gut spin thinking his friend may be dead. As he squeezes though the door he sees with what little light coming from behind him the source of the blood, two insurgents lay dead on the floor, one with his weapon missing.

_"Katt must have killed them but where is she now?"_ Fox asks himself and moves deeper into the dark surveillance room. He notices a radio on the floor he picks it up. He could tell by the frequency setting that it was Katt's radio.

_"Don't be dead on me Ka..."_ As Fox was thinking he let his guard down and felt a pair of arms wrap around his neck attempting to choke him out. In retaliation Fox forced himself and his attacker backwards as hard as he could, smashing his attackers back against the wall rather hard, probably knocking the wind out the person. This gave Fox some slack; he then elbowed the attacker in kidney and throw the attacker to the ground like a rage doll and pinned the person face down. Fox pulled out his pistol and held it up against the attackers head.

"Where's Katt you son of a bitch!" Fox said with rage.

"Fox is that you?" The attacker said with a feminine voice.

"Katt?" Fox replied out shock.

"Yes it's me." Katt replied also in shock.

"I'm so sorry are you alright?" Fox asks as he gets back up. He then helps Katt up.

"I'm think I'm ok. But I think I'll be pissing blood for awhile. Sorry for jumping you. I couldn't tell who you where. It's good to see you. Thanks for coming to get me." Katt says as she rubs side.

"Don't thank me quite yet were only half way done. So where were hiding?" Fox asks.

"Up in the vents over there. We can get through most of the base that way." Katt replies.

"Excellent lets go. It won't take them long to figure out whats happened." Fox says.

"Right, help me up then." Katt replies. Fox then Helps Katt up into the vent and then pulls him up.

Once the two of them were finally up in the vents, Fox could hear foots steps heading towards the dark room. Katt froze in place while Fox silently glanced out the vent opening and saw a fire team of soldiers walk inside. The soldiers checked their downed comrades that lay dead on the floor. He then sees the team leader and pull out his radio.

"Control this Veta One, were are in the main surveillance room. We got two more dead here, no sign of the prisoner of infiltrator. Shall we remain to here to guard the computers or should we continue our search over." The panther corporal says.

"Continue your search. Find both of them and bring them to me dead or alive. IS THAT CLEAR?" the anonymous voice brashly orders.

"Yes sir. Veta One out. Alright you heard the Colonel lets move." the corporal ordered and he along with the rest of his team exit the shadowy surveillance room.

"That was close." Katt says.

"Yeah I'll say. So whats the best way out of here?" Fox asks.

"If we can get to the western motor-pool on level one we should be able to swipe a truck or a speeder out of here. You do have a EVAC plan right?" Katt says.

"Of course. I kinda had the same idea. If we can steal a fast vehicle and get it out of range of the anti-aircraft batteries. I'll signal ROB to send down a gunship for dust-off." Fox replies

"Since when do you have a gunship?" Katt asks.

"I bought them about eight months ago, two Cornerian Army Raven-class on army surplus. I figured they would come in handy. They saved my ass more than once. Their also cheaper to maintain than Arwings and Landmasters. Anyways how far to the motor-pool? Do the vents even go that far?" Fox said.

"No we'll have cut out about 50-100m short. I would say we cut out at 100m just in case they have guards near the entrance." Katt replies.

"We both know they'll have guard posted at the entrance. So far of a crawl then?" Fox asks.

"About 100m ahead then we'll have climb down the shaft to the first floor, then it will be about another 500m or so." Katt replied.

"Great, this is going to suck, but I am impressed how did you get all this info anyways?" Fox asked.

"I've been a busy girl. Which reminds me here take this." Katt says handing Fox what looks like a flash drive.

"Is this a flash drive?" Fox asks.

"Yes It contains tons of encrypted Crimson Blade files. You'll have to have Federation Command decrypt them but the info should be vital." Katt replies.

"Thanks we really need this. Now what do you have for weapons and ammo?" Fox asks.

"Just this 4.6mm SMG and two spare mags that I picked up from that insurgent. I'll make due. l Now lets get out of this shithole." Katt says.

"Right lead the way." Fox says and lights up a couple of chemsticks and hands one to Katt. Katt just nods and the two begin their long crawl forward.

The first 100 meters of the crawl wasn't so bad for the two. The six story climb down was a real bitch. Both Fox and Katt nearly fell numerous times. Once they made down the shaft they began their extremely long crawl towards the motor-pool. The two only stop a couple of times. After nearly three hours of low crawling they stop near a opening of what look like a cleaning closet.

"Well I'm pretty much spent." Katt says rather tired.

"Yeah me too. That was probably my longest crawl ever. So how much farther?" Fox says.

"If we come out from this closet take a right continue down the rest of the hallway. That should lead right to the motor-pool. If we make out of here in one piece I'm going to buy you a drink." Katt replies.

"I'm going to hold you to that." Fox says with a sly grin and uses his knife to pop the vent cover off. The two then quietly climb down the ceiling. Fox jars the door open just slightly and peers outwards, knowing it was clear he signals Katt to move out.

"Let's move, they'll be heading this way soon." Fox says.

"Roger I'll watch our back. Lets kick some ass." Katt replies Fox nods and both exit the closet. The two then make a run for the motor-pool. Once the two reach the two glance inside and see nearly an entire platoon of heavily armed soldiers guarding the vehicles.

"I think were slightly outgunned." Katt says sarcastically.

"I think I have an idea." Fox says with a devious grin.

"This ought to be good." Katt replies.

"First we move nice and quiet like towards that crate over there. Once were in position, I got one HE grenade and one flash bang left. I'll lob both of them in the center of the complex. Then once they blow we'll pop out and unleash hell on them. Aim for the fuel tanks as well. Then we'll haul ass towards the nearest working vehicle, and get the hell out of here." Fox tactfully says.

"That's your idea of a brilliant escape plan. I like it. Lets do this." Katt replies with a grin. The two then silently moved forward behind the metal crate. Fox the pulled both grenades from his bandoleer. He gave Katt a nod, pulled the pins and let the grenades fly towards the unsuspecting victims. The blast alone killed several troops and wounded others.

"NOW!" Fox yells and he and Katt stand up and a deadly rain of gunfire, shooting anything and everything that moved. Fox also took some shots at near by fuel tank causing it erupt into a blazing inferno. Fox dropped back down to change his magazine.

"Katt head to the nearest vehicle and mount its gun. I'll cover you. GO NOW!" Fox orders and stands back up and lays down suppressive fire. Katt then sprints towards an all terrain gun truck nearby and climbs up on to the large Hvy machine gun, and starts firing on the remains of the troops inside.

"Come on Fox!" Katt yelled. Fox then sprinted towards the truck, unbeknown est to him another squad of reinforcements began to storm the area.

"FOX GET DOWN." Katt orders as Fox hits the dirt, Katt started to unleash the fury of the mighty fifty on their new arrivals. The massive .50 BMG rounds tore the squad into a bloody mess. After Katt finished them off, Fox quickly moved towards the truck and started it up. As he started to move out he then hears Katt fire off the again. He pays it no mind and focuses on getting of the motor-pool, and puts the throttle to the max. As Fox drives towards the end of the bay he sees two more insurgents appear by the massive door way and they start firing recklessly at him. With Katt preoccupied Fox pulls out his pistol starts firing while still moving forward. A few rounds from the insurgents hit the bulletproof wind shield and cause it to crack. Fox takes two more shots and hits the one the soldiers in the heart. As for the other insurgent Fox just decides to run him over. Fox couldn't help but laugh a bit. The truck burst out of the motor-pool and into the endless desert of Papetoon. They were free for the moment.

"Keep up the good work Katt. I'm going to contact the GreatFox. " Fox says.

"Got it. I'll keep these bastards busy." Katt replies. Fox then bring up GreatFox's frequency.

"ROB This Fox. Get that gunship down here ASAP. I'll try to get us clear of the AA guns. But hurry we need extraction immediately." Fox orders.

"Roger that Fox. I have your position located. Dispatching gunship now, ETA ten minutes." ROB replies.

"I copy ROB, Fox out. Katt Ten minutes until pick up." Fox says.

"Got it." Katt replies.

The truck speeds along the desert sand for about five minutes with no real trouble until Katt get sight of three armed dune buggies bearing down on them fast.

"Fox we got company!" Katt yells out and starts firing. As the trucks started to close in Katt hits the driver of the center buggy straight through the chest and causes the truck to loose control and crash in to the its comrades on the right side, destroying both vehicles.

"SCREW YOU." Katt said victoriously.

"Nice one Katt." Fox said witnessing it through the rear view mirror.

The shots from the remaining buggy were closing in on them. One of the shots manages to hit the drivers side mirror.

"Two minutes Katt. we should be clear of the AA guns now." Fox says.

"Lets hope so I'm low on ammo." Katt replies. She then aims the massive machine gun towards the last truck and commences fire. With the last of her ammo she manages to hit the gunner on the enemy buggy in the upper chest, completely mutilating him. But the truck still wasn't out of the fight yet for in the passenger seat sat another solider wielding an assault rifle started taking pot shots towards them. Katt acting quickly as she could reach down for her SMG. As she was about to take aim the rifleman on the other now firing off burst gets of a luck shot. The slug ripped right through Katt's chest just missing her heart and spine.

"AAAHHH!" Katt screamed and fell off the gun platform and on to Fox's lap almost falling out of the truck completely not too mention nearly cause Fox to lose control of the truck as well.

"KATT!" Fox yells but she didn't respond. She was unconscious and losing a lot of blood. Fox put one hand over her wound while he kept driving. Now vulnerable the amount of enemy fire increased. All Fox could do now was hope that the gunship would arrive in time.

"Where's that fucking gunship." Fox said to himself as a bullet zipped past his head. Fox speed onwards until he could finally see the gunship overhead. The gunship closed in on the two trucks until it got a lock on enemy and fire an anti-tank missile. The small buggy was nearly disintegrated by the powerful projectile. After the enemy truck was totaled Fox stopped and signaled the gunship to land. Once it landed Fox made haste and quickly carried his severely wounded comrade into the rescue ship and signaled it to take off. Rather than taking manual control of the gunship he knew he had tend to Katt the best way he could with what limited first aid supplies he had on him.

On board the GreatFox fifteen minutes later.

No sooner when they landed Fox rushes towards the Med-bay, hoping to keep his friend alive long enough to get her proper medical treatment. With out it she was as good as dead. Fox brings up his PDA while rushing through the corridors of the GreatFox.

"ROB set course for Corneria ASAP, max warp. Katt has been wounded really damn badly. We need to get her to a hospital in the safe zone immediately. She should be alright in the Med-bay for now." Fox orders.

"Affirmative Fox." ROB replies and powers up the FTL drives.

As Fox reaches the Med-bay he gently set Katt down on the bed and put and oxygen mask on her. He then changes the field dressing on her wound and hooker her up with an IV.

"Hold on Katt."

Authors notes: Sorry it took so long, but hey crap happens right. So what did you think of that? That was a hell of a shoot out. More action and more plot soon to come. Thanks for reading and for your reviews.


	5. Chapter:4 Scarred but not Beaten

**Chapter 4: Scarred but not Beaten**

Abandoned asteroid mining colony 10:15 local time.

Inside the deepest darkest corner of the Lylat system lies an old abandoned mining colony. The colony, decades ago was one the main sources of income to outlying Lylat territories and the surrounding systems. After several major accidents and a few deaths the mines were shut down and forgotten. Thirty years after the shut down the colony now serves as the main base of operations for The Crimson Blade. The mass and obscure location makes this colony the perfect fortress for the blood lusted terrorists.

Within the massive stronghold houses hundreds if not thousands of committed Crimson Blade personnel. The blood crazed yet well trained insurgents operate more like a private army rather than a simple terrorist cell. But their motives however are no different. Simply put, power and blood are the only things that drive these heartless murderers.

On top of the highest tower to the station, formerly its executive meeting room stands the main Combat Information Center (CIC) for The Crimson Blade. Dozens of the terrorists groups top officers gather including their supreme commander General Maximilian Sage himself. Years back Sage was one of the most brilliant and well trained officers in the Cornerain Army. If it wasn't for his questionable tactics he may very well have taken General Pepper's position. Enraged Sage left the Federation and became the commander of the Venomain Army. He led his troops in dozens of victories, with his greatest on Macbeth. Since the wars end he has wondered the system planning and recruiting to extract his vengeance on the unsuspecting Lylatians.

While the majority of the officers sit around a large table Sage vengefully stands on the far end of the room not facing the others. The incident on Papetoon was less than thrilling to the malicious general. Not to mention marks their first major security breach and tactical defeat. Sage of course wants answers.

"Now lets go over this again. What the hell happened down there? I want answers NOW!" Sage ordered still not facing his staff.

"At approximately 02:20 local time prisoner Katt Monroe escaped custody and hacked our network and communications hub to signal a rescue operation. At approximately 05:45 is when our troops came into first contact with the infiltrator. The infiltrator and Monroe managed to bypass and break through nearly all of our forces and escaped at around 09:00. At least fifteen vehicles were damaged, two were destroyed, and two are still unaccounted for. We estimate sixty dead so far sir." Colonel Vertan reports.

Colonel Alexander Vertan is one of Sage's most trusted officers. The cheetah colonel served as one of Sage's Executive Officers (XO) during the war. Now Vertan is his second in command.

Sage then turns to face the hologram of Vertan. "OK first of all, how did this happen? Secondly who do I blame for this failure?" Sage calmly orders.

"Well Sergeant Tellsman was in charge of the prison ward at the time. He probably could tell you what happened sir." Vertan replies.

"Bring him here immediately." Sage orders.

"Yes sir." Vertan replies and radios the solider.

"Can you describe the infiltrator at all?" Sage asks.

"According to two survivors he appeared to be a vulpine. He apparently he didn't have any distinguishable markings on him either." Vertan replies.

"That means he's a mercenary. I'll bet that was McCloud. If it was him, this could complicate things. Bring up Kursed's signal now." Sage orders and one of the communications personnel hails the rouge bounty hunter.

"Kursed here, what do you need general?"

"Kursed about eight hours ago Katt Monroe managed to escape custody. With a bit of help from a lone commando." Sage says.

"I'm guessing it was McCloud." Kursed replies with a sly look on her face seeming almost unsurprised.

"The commando infiltrated our base on Papetoon, meet up with Monroe and single-handedly killed nearly sixty of my men. The two of them then managed to escape the perimeter before our scouts could catch up with them." Sage stoically says.

"That's defiantly McCloud. He's the only person crazy enough, other than myself, that would even consider attempting a operation like that alone. So long story short, I'm guessing you want me to relocate Monroe as well?" Kursed replies.

"Precisely. Unfortunately I don't have any leads as to where they went." Sage says rather annoyed.

"It's of no concern. I'll find them regardless. Kursed out." As the image of Kursed faded, another appeared this time it was Sergeant Tellsman. The young solider had a look on his face like he had seen a ghost.

"Explain." was the general said in cold dark tone.

"Sir the prisoner must have picked the locks or something and knocked the patrolling gua.." Before Tellsman could finish Sage interrupts him.

"Your failure is unexceptionable sergeant." Sage says and snaps his fingers. Vertan then pulls out his 9mm pistol and shoots Tellsman in the back of the head.

"Colonel Vertan." Sage says sternly.

"Yes sir." Vertan replies.

"It's only been a few hours, so gather your remaining troops and sweep the surrounding areas. Pillage and burn every nearby town if your have to. I want those two found, alive or dead. I don't care. Is that clear?" Sage orders.

"If they're still here then we'll find them sir." Vertan replies.

"Good now go. As for the rest of you, resume your duties. I hope my little example we made of Tellsman motivates the rest of you in the future. You're dismissed." Sage orders and the rest of his staff quickly exit the room. As for Sage, he slowly walks over to the window and stares off into the void.

"_I will rule this system or watch it burn to ashes in front of me..."_

Corneria City 12:30, 3 days later.

It's been three days since the rescue operation on Papetoon. The moment Fox reached the city he transported Katt to the nearest hospital for treatment. She was very fortunate that she didn't die on the trip back to Corneria. She probably would have if it wasn't for the medical facilities on board the Great Fox. For the past two days Katt has been confined to the hospitals ICU, with Fox unable to check up on her.

On the far end of the hospital parking lot, Fox leans on his motorcycle and lights a cigarette after just pulling in. Normally getting stuck parking at the far end of the lot would piss him off, but he had other issues on his mind. Between the enigmatic bounty hunter and nearly losing one of his close friends, walking an extra block is the last on his mind. After he finishes his smoke he begins walking to the large hospital. This particular hospital is one of the city's largest, most advanced but also busiest in the district. As Fox proceeds towards through the parking lot; he notices several people look his way, mostly with blank stares. He can tell that they recognize him, but paid them no mind. Finally after about a ten minute walk Fox made it inside the massive hospital, and walked up to a poodle receptionist.

"Afternoon ma'am, I'm here to see Kathryn Monroe; that is, if you're allowing visitors yet." Fox says.

"OK give me a second to look up her file. Can I have your name sir?" the receptionist replies.

"Fox McCloud." He says in slightly faint tone to divert any unneeded attention.

"You're thee Fox McCloud, the war hero?" the poodle asks rather surprised.

"I guess you can say that." Fox humbly replies.

"Thank you for services Mr. McCloud. Ms. Monroe is room 301 on the third floor. You may go see her. I'll notify the nurse on duty of your arrival." the receptionist says.

"Room 301, thank you." Fox replies and heads towards the elevator.

It doesn't take Fox long to get up the third floor. When he does he checks in the nurse on the floor. Once she gives him clearance to enter Fox walks up to her room and respectfully knocks.

"Come on in." Katt says Fox then slowly enters. As he enters he was rather surprised to see the pink feline actually sitting up and fully awake.

"Hey Katt, how are you feeling. I was expecting you to be out of it still." Fox says.

"Pfft I'm tough, it'll take more than a couple of trigger happy thugs to bring this bitch down. Still that was a close call. You saved my ass once again. I owe you, thanks." Katt says with a smile.

"You know I'm always willing save a friend, and their becoming far and few. The only thing you owe me as that drink." Fox replies, Katt just laughs a bit.

"I haven't forgotten, but please don't make me laugh. My rib cage still feels like it's going to fall apart." Katt says as she puts her hand over her bandaged wound.

"Sorry, anyways so how bad was the wound? It doesn't appear to be that bad." Fox asks.

"It was a pretty clean shot. Went right through me and did minimal hydo-shock." Katt replies.

"Armor-piercing rounds. So how long until they let you out of here?" Fox asks.

"The nurse said I'll be cleared to leave in a few days. I can't wait; it's fucking boring here. Speaking of which, sit down stay awhile. We really haven't talked much in years." Katt replies. Fox then pulls up a chair and quietly sits down."Relax you're always so damn uptight. I swear you're like a fucking robot sometimes." This made Fox laugh rather hard.

"Well the only crew I have left is a robot." Fox replies.

"That's lame." Katt sarcastically replies.

"Yeah I know, but anyways on the serious note. I gotta ask, what happened? How did you get stuck in this situation in the first place? And how come you contacted me instead of Falco? Not that I minded but it's still out of the ordinary." Fox asked.

"I suppose that's fair; since you nearly got your ass blown off to save me. It was about four maybe five days ago. I was at casino on Fortuna, having myself a good o'l time. I won about two-thousand credits too, and no I didn't cheat either." Katts says.

"I wasn't implying anything." Fox defensibly replies.

"Anyways once it started to get late; I decided to leave before closing. So I was walking towards the street corner to hail a cab when I got jumped at a nearby alley. After a about five minutes of brawling I noticed the assassin was a female." Katt says. This caught Fox's attention.

"Can you describe her at all?" Fox asks rather curiously.

"Not really she was wearing all black including a balaclava. All I could really see was her eyes, which were red. She could have been either a feline or a vixen. As I was saying we continued to duke it out for a few more minutes until the bitch stabbed me with a sedative. That shit knocked me out fast. When I woke up I was locked in nasty grimy cell with a half eaten MRE and small thing of water. I was stuck there for three days and you know the rest." Katt says.

"It's apparent they wanted you alive. Did they interrogate you at all?" Fox asked.

"No, they probably wanted to half starve me first." Katt replies.

"Old school torture tactics, typical of terrorists. But that still doesn't explain why they were after you." Fox says.

"Maybe it was because of my past affiliations, like for you example. I stopped smuggling long before secession even happened. So I doubt that had anything to do with it. Hell for all we know, maybe they just considered me a threat. I wouldn't blame them." Katt boasts.

"Possibly, all I know is that your description of your assailant is similar to a bounty hunter I ran into back on Kew. This was just before I rescued you. This can't be just coincidental." Fox says.

"Well what's done is done for now at least. As far as me and Falco goes, we flew together on his team for awhile. He was all cushy with me until he found some new ex Cornerian AF pilot, and said in quote "I found someone more skilled take care". I haven't seen or heard from him since." Katt replies in depressed tone. Fox could tell that what happened was rather painful to her.

"I'm sorry." Fox says sincerely.

"Don't be. It matters not. So enough about my depressing life story, what about you?" Katt replies wanting to change the subject.

"In short after my team split; I've pretty much have been stuck with only handfuls of private security missions. All of which have had less than exceptional pay. Once the terrorist crisis started Peppy hired me to investigate. I have to say as much as our little rendezvous sucked; the intell you provided us with could go a long way towards winning this fight." Fox says.

"I sure hope so. I don't like idea of getting shot for nothing. Has command deciphered any of the data yet?" Katt asks.

"I doubt it. They said they would contact me when they have found something." Fox replies.

"Let's hope it doesn't take too long." Katt says.

"Time will tell. Well I should probably let you rest." Fox replies.

"Oh come on, your leaving already?" Katt asks rather disappointed.

"Yeah I've got somethings check up on. I'll come by tomorrow alright?" Fox says and stands himself back up.

"Alright, I'll see you later." Katt replies. As Fox was about to exit the door; Katt speaks up again."Hey Fox." Fox then stops and faces her again."Thanks again." she says with a gracious smile.

"Anytime." Fox replies returning a grin. He waves and walks out the door.

Authors notes: First off I would to thank my new beta reader DJatomica69. Your awesome dude. I know this chapter was not that exciting, but it was insightful. Like this chapter the next few will be more about whats going on. As always thanks for reading and for the reviews.


	6. Chapter:5 Side by Side

**Chapter 5: Side by Side**

Hospital Room 301 07:30, 3 days later.

It's been nearly a week since Katt's rescue on Papetoon. With the exceptions of Fox's visits, Katt's week has been rather boring. Between eating her so called meals and watching the news, she figures sleeping would be a better use of her time. She couldn't wait to be released from this place.

It was seven-thirty in the morning. Katt ,who was still fast asleep, was woken up by what sounded like the door to her room. Annoyed and barely awake she glances over towards the overhead clock, and notices how early it still is.

"_Who the hell could it be at this hour?"_ Katt thinks to herself, and hears the knocking again.

"Come in." Katt says while she yawns.

The door slowly opens and the visitor slowly walks in. Katt, still somewhat distracted by her sleepiness, pays little attention.

As Katt snaps herself to attention, her eyes widen in terror as she gets a closer look at her visitor. Standing merely six feet in front of her is a familiar red eye, black cloaked assassin. In her right hand she wields a silenced 9mm pistol aimed directly at Katt's head. Katt, frozen in terror, knows she's helpless.

"Say goodnight." the assassin sadistically says and squeezes the trigger...

Katt jumps up and nearly screams. Her heart was racing, and she was practically hyperventilating. She then looks forward and towards the door. Besides her, the room was empty. Realizing that it was just a dream, she puts her hand on her still somewhat sore wound and lets a out a sigh of relief.

"That was fucked up." Katt says to herself. After regaining her composer she looks over to the clock, which says 11:33am.

"Shit, I slept in late. At least I should be able to get out of here later." Katt says. Much to her surprise, she hears the door knock. Katt's heart rate began to rise again. Was it just coincidental or a bad omen, she wasn't sure. All she knew at this point was that this was too creepy for words.

"Come... in." she replies stumbling over her words. Katt watches closely as the door swings open. Seconds feel like hours as the visitor walks in. Much to Katt's relief, it was only her nurse.

"Good morning Ms. Monroe. I see your finally awake. I've been sent to tell you that you're being released, and that you have a ride waiting down stairs." the nurse says.

"Thank you." Katt says with little to no emotion, still slightly distraught. The nurse notices.

"Are you alright Ms. Monroe?" the nurse asks.

"I'm OK...just a little tired yet that's all. I just need some fresh air. I'll be ready in a few minutes." Katt replies.

"Do you require any assistance at all?" the nurse asks.

"No I'll be fine. I'll come get you when I'm done." Katt replies. The nurse then nods and walks out of the room. After stretching herself out, Katt then proceeds to the small bathroom. When she gets inside she changes into set of Fox's cloths, that he dropped off the day before for her. Needless to say they were a bit for her. Even when she tightened the belt as far as it would go.

"Before the days end. I'm buying myself some cloths. I'm not going more than twenty-four hours looking like this." Katt says to herself. After she finishes getting dressed she goes over to the sink and rinses her face off.

"I can't wait to take a shower. This will have to do for now." she says feeling kinda grimy. Eager to leave Katt grabs what few personnel items she had with and walks out of her room and signals the nurse. The nurse walks up to Katt pushing an empty wheelchair.

"I'd really much rather walk." Katt says.

"Are you sure ma'am? Technically all patients that are being out-processed are supposed to be in a chair." the nurse replies.

"Yeah I'd really rather walk. I've been sitting on my ass for almost a week. I need to stretch my legs out. Besides it was my chest that was wounded . I'm quite able to walk." Katt bluntly says.

"If you insist." the nurse replies and the two begin to head down stairs to the lobby. As Katt and the nurse proceed down towards the lobby, the nurse fills Katt in on all the insurance information. Katt was rather relieved and surprised to find out that Federation High Command covered all of her expenses. When she gets downstairs the receptionist hands Katt her out-processing papers. As she fills out the papers she wonders where Fox is.

"_Where the hell is he? He's suppose to be here."_ Katt thinks herself. Once she finishes the papers she sets the pen down on the desk and begins to walk towards the door and sees the backside of a familiar vulpine outside through the window. She then smiles. "_There he is._" She then walks out the door and greets her old friend.

"Hey you, I've been looking for you. You going to get me out of here or what?" Katt says sarcastically, but with a snarky grin on her face.

"I see your sense of humor wasn't wounded at all." Fox humorously snaps back and lights up a cigarette. But before he could take a drag from it Katt swipes it from him. Slightly irritated Fox just shakes his head.

"That shit will kill you." Katt says as she begins to smoke it. Fox couldn't help but laugh at her hypocritical bit.

"Look who's talking." Fox replies as he grabs himself another.

"Oh this feels good, I haven't had a cig since I got captured. What brand are these anyways?" Katt asks as she enjoys her smoke.

"Fichina Blues." Fox replies.

"They're not bad. But still what hell are still standing here for? Let's blow this joint." Katt impatiently says.

"All right lets go. Your the most impatient person I know. By the way I'm parked on far end." Fox replies and begins walking towards the parking lot.

"What no limo?" Katt sarcastically says.

"Your pushing it. I could just leave your here you know." Fox says with a snarky grin on his face. Katt then puts her right arm around his back and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"You wouldn't do that to your favorite friend would you? Especially after poor little me got hurt." Katt sucks up in jokingly manner with a whinny childish voice. Normally in most cases Fox was extremely composed and stoic, often showing little to no emotion at all. For his line of work obviously it was necessary. But only for a handful select of people he would set his professionalism aside, Katt being one of them. This friendly trade of sarcasm and argument between the two of them dates back when they first became friends in the academy.

"Don't tempt me." Fox says shaking his head trying to keep a straight face. Katt then begins to laugh and removes her arms. Her laughter became short lived as the pain in her chest began to build up. Fox was able to tell that it must have hurt pretty damn bad.

"You OK?" Fox asks out of concern.

"I'm fine, I just have to try my hardest not to laugh much for a awhile. So where are we going?" Katt asks.

"Federation High Command, we have a briefing to attend to." Fox replies.

"I'm guessing they want to hear more about our little shoot out." Katt says.

"Yep, apparently they were able to decrypt some of the files." Fox says in a slightly eager tone.

"That was fast. I can't imagine that they decrypted all of it." Katt replies rather surprised.

"I wouldn't think so. Even the best decryption experts and systems would take weeks if not months to crack those files." Fox says.

"Must have been something worth while if they're calling us in all the sudden." Katt replies.

"I guess we'll have to wait and see." Fox says. The two continue to walk and converse the rest of the way towards Fox's vehicle. When they reach it, Katt's eyes sparkle with glee when she sees his motorcycle.

"Nice bike, is this a Nova Runner MK-IX?" Katt says as she gawks at the highly elegant blue sport bike.

"Yeah I got it last year after a small job on Zoness." Fox replies.

"This bike is sick. This model can put out like twenty-five thousand RPMs without seizing. I'm guessing this has the extra fuel injectors. The type of engine is a titanium/tungsten high performance hydrogen racing engine. I bet those racing tires weren't cheap either." Katt analytically says. Fox was rather impressed. He didn't even know all of that.

"That's pretty impressive. You know more about bikes than I do." Fox admits.

"Pfft I've been riding motorcycles long before I had my drivers license." Katt boasts.

"Yeah like that day during our freshman year at the academy. You got like three tickets. And if I remember correctly one was for not having a license obviously. The second was for speeding and the last one was for cussing out the MP. Then you spent the rest of the day in the brig." Fox comments chuckling slightly.

"That was a good day." Katt replies with smile of nostalgia."So can I drive?" Katt asks.

"What, no. You just got out of the damn hospital." Fox replies.

"Please, I won't break it." Katt says in a girly childish voice while pouting. Fox just sighs and shakes his head.

"Fine, just don't get us killed." he says and tosses her his keys.

"Score." She replies out of excitement. Katt then starts up the bike and revs the powerful engine a few times. "This thing's a beast. So shall we?"

"Let's jet." Fox says and positions himself on the backseat of the bike. When Katt was able to tell that he was on board she guns the throttle, squelching the rear tire, and speeds out of the parking lot.

The drive to the Federation High Command HQ took roughly thirty minutes. During the course of the drive Fox was amazed at the fact that they didn't get pulled over by CDF troops. Along most of the highways Katt kept a steady speed of nearly 180km per hour. As they pull up to the front gate to the massive army base, they are stopped by two Cornerian Army MP's. The two MP's both wielding blaster SMGs, stroll towards the sport bike to check out their visitors.

"This is a secured area. I need to see some identification." the one MP states. Fox reaches into his left pant pocket and pulls out his military ID.

"McCloud Fox J, service number M6751." Fox says as he hand his ID card to the MP.

"And the lady." the MP replies.

"Kathryn A. Monroe sir." she says as quickly whips out her ID. The MP takes and looks it over quick.

"Captain you are cleared to proceed, but your friend here is not." the MP comments. This brings a bit of annoyance to the two.

"Look corporal, Ms. Monroe was specifically called to this briefing at the HQ, which is in about fifteen minutes, by the general himself. I'm sure you wouldn't want the post commander to be waiting now would you?" Fox advises in a tone that was mild yet rather convincing.

"I see sir, um let me radio ahead. Just a moment please." the MP says and takes a few steps back while pulling out his hand held radio."HQ this is Charlie 2, I have a Captain Fox McCloud and Kathryn Monroe here at the main gate requesting permission to enter. McCloud has the proper clearance but Ms. Monroe doesn't. What shall we do about her over?"

"_Let her in. She was suppose to be on the clearance roster. Those two are major V.I.P contractors, DO NOT HASSLE THEM. Now direct them to the Operations Center."_the unidentified voice replies in a rather annoyed tone.

"Yes sir, Charlie 2 out." the MP acknowledges and walks back towards Fox and Katt. "You are cleared to enter Ms. Monroe; you have been instructed to proceed to the Operations Center. Do you need directions at all?"

"No we'll be fine, thank you. Let's go Katt." Fox replies. The two then for a few moments as the MP opens the gate. Once the gate opens up Katt drives through and proceeds inside.

The base itself is massive. Almost like a small city. One wouldn't be able to tell until they actually got inside the gate. As Katt and Fox continue driving they pass several military logistics trucks. Once they reached Operations Center Fox looks up and sees a flight of Cornerian Saber class Hvy Interceptors fly overhead. The sight of formation flying always makes him grin. He honestly wished he had more jobs that involved flying. Still in his gaze Fox didn't even realize that they had stopped. Katt decided to snap him back to reality.

"Yo Fox, you alive there." Katt obnoxiously says while poking him in the side of the face.

"Oh yeah sorry. We should get inside." Fox replies.

"Duh." Katt responds.

"Smart ass." Fox comments.

"Oh you wouldn't have any other way." Katt sarcastically shoots back, always having to get the last words in. Fox just rolls his eyes and continued inside.

Inside Gen Hare's office 13:15 ten minutes later.

Within his highly decorated office the old general patiently awaits his two guests. Since the start of the insurgency, the hare has been more or less stressed. Between political pressure from the council and lack of popular support for military action, the general feels practically powerless to contain this threat. Trying to relax, lets out a sigh of relief as looks toward to couple of old photos on his desk. One of the photos has his family on it back when Vivian was still alive. Another was one that shows the original Star Fox team on it. The last one is a photo of Fox and his friends in their Academy dress uniforms about a month before their graduation and before James was killed.

"_It's just not simple anymore." _Peppy thinks to himself. As he continues to reminisce he is interrupted by his secretary, a white wolf CAF senior airmen.

"Sir the contractors have arrived and are awaiting outside the door."

"Thank you Janet; send them in." Peppy replies.

"Yes sir." she says and walks out of the room. As his guest walk in he grins and walks up to them giving them a friendly embrace.

"It's good to finally see you two in person. I think the last time I saw either of you was during the blitz." Peppy gladly greets his long time friends.

"It's good to see you to sir." Fox replies

"Same as well general." Katt says.

"No need for the formalities. Please sit down, we have much to discuss. It's unfortunate that this reunion is for such dire circumstances. By the way how are feeling Katt? Your injury sounded rather serious, but at least your looking better." Peppy says as he takes his seat.

"Pretty good, but still a bit sore. And thanks for covering the expenses." Katt replies.

"It's no problem. If anything I should be thanking you. That data you recovered will go along way in ending this conflict." Peppy says with gratitude.

"Lets just hope we can act on this before the crisis worsens." Fox comments.

"Agreed." Peppy replies.

"So what do you find anyways?" Katt asks.

"Not a whole lot yet. Fortunately we did manage to get a few names and locations that could give us a head start." Peppy says.

"So who and where then?" Fox asks.

"Does the name Vertan ring a bell at all?" Peppy says.

"Yes if your talking about Colonel Alexander Vertan, renegade special forces officer, than yes. He severed as General Sage's XO during the war, before he disappeared that is." Fox replies.

"That's correct, during the war he and Sage were rather close. Although it's safe to assume that Vertan's still working for Sage, we don't have any confirmation yet. If he is than things have just gotten a lot more complicated." Peppy says.

"For sure. What was Vertan up to anyways?" Katt asks.

"From what we were able to decipher the data fragments mention something about a weapons trafficking racket from the planet Usella, that Vertan signed for." Peppy replies.

"Usella, that's two parsecs away." Fox says somewhat surprised.

"Indeed, the Crimson Blade's influence is spreading like a wildfire." Peppy replies.

"Did the data mention anything about where on Usella their staging at or about any other operations their conducting?" Fox asks.

"Negative, all we know is of the arms deals. It's not much but it's concrete intel. You should be able to use that as a starting point at least." Peppy replies.

"I guess I can't argue with that." Fox says.

"Isabella Ourumov." Katt says out of the blue. This catches Fox and Peppy's attention.

"What?" Fox asks.

"You mean who not what. Isabella Ourumov was one of my old smuggling contacts back about six years ago. She's runs several businesses on Usella." Katt replies.

"Interesting, would she help us? Plus is she trustworthy?" Peppy asks.

"Hard to say. Her loyalty is to money. She runs at least a dozen major businesses their, some legitimate others not so much. She knows about all the major imports and exports within the system. But her and her people aren't murderers, and she typically will try to stay clear of organizations like terrorist groups. But there again it's been years since I've dealt with her, it could be anyone's guess as to what she would do." Katt comments.

"This is very risky, but if you could convince her to help us, that might be our best shot at getting on the trail of our enemy." Peppy replies.

"Agreed, Usella will be my next target then." Fox says in consensus.

"You mean our next target. I'm coming with you. You can't do this alone." Katt protests.

"Your in no condition to be fighting." Fox comments.

"So what am I supposed to do then, sit on my ass while the assassin stabs me in my sleep?" Katt replies in a angered tone. Peppy decides to intervene.

"Although Fox is correct about your condition. But I'm afraid Katt's right." Peppy comments. Katt turns her head towards Fox and sticks out her tongue at him. Fox just shakes his head. " After uncovering this info this only proves that you'd be way in over head going by yourself. Plus Katt needs someone to keep an eye on her. Kursed will most defiantly be gunning for both of you. So in turn, I'm officially assigning Katt to your mission. You'll surely need another team member to pull this off."

Fox just lets out a sigh of annoyance."Alright fair enough. Now what else did you find in those files?"

"Not much else but that Kursed was mentioned a few times. For what and why has yet to be determined. But one is for sure is that she has very close ties with the Crimson Blade. That isn't good. She's a high priority target now. Like the other figure heads in their cell, you must find her and stop her." Peppy replies.

"Don't worry, when the time comes she'll find me, and I'll do whats necessary. Now whats the status of the other teams?" Fox asks.

"Well technically that's classified but the situation calls for it. Major Vance's commando team is on Sauria gathering intel on the Saurian Brotherhood. So far they've lost two of their team members. We lost contact with Falco's team over Venom about a week ago. We have no information regarding what happened. Miyu and Fara are on Von-Tressur, chasing an arms dealer they think is might be supplying the different factions. Last I heard, their alright at least." Peppy reports.

"Send them my contact information next time they give you an update." Fox says.

"Sure thing Fox. That's all I have for you for now. Be sure to give me a regular report. I'll contact you when find more information. Good luck you two; I fear you'll need." Peppy replies and shakes their hands. Fox and Katt then walk out of the room. As soon as they leave Peppy looks back down to his pictures.

"_Were all counting on you two. You're the only one's that can stop them. Just don't die in the process."_

Outside the Operations Center five minutes later.

Their time walking after the briefing was rather quiet. Fox wasn't exactly thrilled having Katt assigned to the mission. Although he wasn't mad, she is his friend after all, but still the thought of putting a friend who was also wounded into the front lines, didn't exactly settle well with him. However deep down he knows that he needs her for this.

"_Maybe I can convince her to withdraw from the mission...Aww who am I kidding."_ Fox thinks to himself and then looks over towards Katt.

"Look Fox I know you want me to sit this one out. But I'm here whether you like it or not." Katt says in disappointed tone.

"It's not that I don't want your help or that I don't think you can handle it. Its the fact that I don't want to risk loosing any more of my friends." Fox replies.

"And you don't think I don't either Fox. Most of your friends are my friends to you know. Miyu and Fara are out there; and I won't sit idly while the Crimson Blade and that psychopathic bitch hunts them down or you for matter. Your not putting me at risk, I am. Trust me. We made a pretty good team back on Papetoon right." Katt says in a concerned tone. Fox then let out a small grin.

"Yeah we did make a good team back there. Alright I suppose I could use some help especially a mechanic. Plus talking to a robot gets kinda old after awhile." Fox replies.

"At-ta boy that the spirit. We can be a new Star Fox team, just you and me. Plus I still have keys to your bike so yeah." Katt says with dirty grin on her face she dangles his keys in front of him.

"I suppose that would complicate things for me. As Star Fox goes it's dead. Were just security contractors now, nothing more." Fox replies.

"Your no fun. Oh before we head into orbit I desperately need to get some cloths. I know what your thinking, It won't take that long." Katt says in a manner that she is rather excited.

"Alright fair enough." Fox replies.

"By the way I'm driving again." Katt says.

"Fine but I'm flying the gunship back." Fox groans as he climbs on the back of his bike. Katt then climbs up and starts it up.

"Lets roll."

Great Fox 17:25 shipboard time.

After the grueling shopping experience, which in Fox's opinion was a fate worse than death, Fox spent the next couple of hours acquainting Katt to the ship. Needless to say Katt was less than impressed with the ship's current condition. Once she got herself settled in, she and Fox decide to relax in the rec-room for awhile before departing for Usella.

"You know I think this is probably the nicest room on the ship, I like the old rustic look you have going in here. And I will say, you do have a sick sound system. I bet you could heard those beasts from space." Katt says comments as she looks around in the rustic rec-room/bar.

"I take great pride in those speakers. They weren't cheap either. I have them wired to the bridge, hanger, and in engineering. I like my music." Fox replies.

"Nice, now what's with the various weapons hanging on the walls?" Katt asks.

"Trophies from past missions. Like that shield in front of the crossing battle axes, I got those from a couple Sharpclaw I killed. That blaster rifle I picked up from a Sargasso Space Pirate, and that SMG right there is the one you picked up on Papetoon." Fox says.

"Cool, So when are we heading out then?" Katt asks.

"We'll leave in a few hours. I would like to get an engine diagnostic before we go. Usella is a good 24hr long trip. Although I'm sure the engines can take it, but just in case I want to check them out. Last thing we want is an overload or a burn out during warp." Fox replies.

"Yeah that would suck ass, oh by the way I still owe you a drink." Katt replies and walks behind bar which has a pretty decent selection of various types of alcohol.

"That you do." Fox says in a jokingly manner. Katt then grabs a pair of glasses and pours them each a glass of Scotch.

"Here you are Fox free of charge." Katt says sarcastically Fox just chuckles slightly and grabs his drink."Cheers to my good looks and your combat skills. Between those none of those Crimson Blade bastards will stop us. Right partner?" Katt then holds out her glass. Fox then grins and nods his head and extends his glass.

"Damn straight, partner."

Authors notes: Sorry it took so long. That was a long chapter. Thanks for reading and reviewing.


	7. Chapter:6 The Hunt

**Chapter 6: The Hunt**

Corneria Interplanetary Spaceport 20:15 hrs local time.

Despite the major terrorist attack on this facility a few weeks back, the spaceport is functioning at nearly seventy-five percent efficiency. Although complete restoration will probably take six-eight months, the Federation is putting major fiscal resources into repairing it. The spaceport is too important to the planets economy to let falter.

Within the spaceports Air/Space Traffic Control center (ASTC) a masked enigmatic figure carefully browses through the various ship logs and manifests. These files are of extremely sensitive nature. Some in which contain registry files, departure times, locations of diplomatic envoys and some military convoys. If hacked the information could be devastating in wrong hands. However this person seems more interested in locating just one ship.

"_Security clearance approved_. _Data base search. Subject Great Fox. Ex Cornerian Navy Redeemer-class Assault Carrier. Now commanded by Captain McCloud Fox J."_

The figure then smiles and continues typing.

"_Subject departed dock at 19:30 local time, destination Usella."_

"HAHAHA excellent. I have you now Fox." the figure says sadistically and then erases her search history.

"_Search history deletion approved. Now logging you off Mr. Hendrics."_

After the infiltrator finishes, she stands up from her chair and walks over to a pair of dead bodies on the floor and places the stolen ID back on the it's previous owner and smiles.

"Thanks again boys, I sure hope I can return the favor someday. HAHAHA, look out Fox the Kurse is coming for you. And it will be there very soon." Kursed says and nonchalantly walks out the door and vanishes...

Great Fox 15:30 shipboard time, the next day.

On board the Great Fox it was business as usual for Fox. His morning consisted of a quick workout, breakfast then on to work. During all of this Katt has been asleep the entire time. When she finally wakes up she showers, changes into a set of her new cloths and proceeds directly to the bridge figuring Fox is there. As she nears the bridge entrance she hears the rather loud sound of heavy metal coming from inside. She then grins.

"Sounds like Fox is working "real" hard in there." Katt says in joking manner and walks in. As the door opens the sound of the was much louder than she had expected and catches her by surprise. Once she regains her composure she walks over to Fox's seat, as she expected he is completely oblivious to her presence. She decides to take advantage of this. She slowly creeps up to him until she is right behind his chair and waves her hand behind. Obviously he doesn't respond, she thinks to herself and smiles and flicks him in the ear.

"What the fuck was that?" Fox jumps up and looks behind him and sees his comrade. After realizing what just happened he uses his council to turn the volume of the music down.

"Afternoon sunshine. So you finally rose from the dead." Fox sarcastically greets.

"Funny." Katt replies.

"How are you feeling; you slept in pretty late." Fox says.

"Not bad at all, besides being a bit groggy. The pain for the most part is gone, anyways I don't have a clock in my room but I'm guessing it's about 12:30 right?" Katt says.

"Try about 15:30. I was wondering if you went into a coma or something." Fox replies.

"Shit I really need to re-acclimate to ship board time. I'm know I'm going to feel like hell tonight." Katt says rather surprised.

"Give it a few days and you'll get used to it or your have a mental breakdown." Fox says with hint of snark.

"I've had worse. So how long until our arrival time?" Katt asks.

"Well initially I figured about twenty-four hours. I'm no astrophysicist but long story short due to Usella's current orbital position and time of day upon our set arrival we should be coming out of warp in about two and half hours." Fox says analytically.

"Good I hate waiting. I suppose we should start getting ready then." Katt says in anticipation.

"Took the words right out of my mouth. Come on I'll sure you the armory. We can plan out our mission and you can pick yourself out some equipment and weapons." Fox says and stands up from his chair.

"Sweet lets go." Katt replies and follows Fox out of the bridge. The walk to the armory only took a couple of minutes. The to stop in front of a heavy duty armored blast door with a _Authorized Personnel Only_ sign on it.

"Well here we are. Just so you know the armory is pass code protected. The code is 5936." Fox says and types it in. The heavy doors then hiss and open up. The two then walk inside. Inside the tightly secured room bristled with dozens of weapon systems ranging from pistols up to RPGs. Katt was needless to say was in awe.

"(Whistle) Man Fox I always new you were the go big or go home type, but once again you exceed my expectations. I'm impressed." Katt says while gazing at his inventory.

"My current inventory is slightly short but we'll make due." Fox comments.

"Your kidding me right? You have enough guns in here to arm practically an entire infantry company." Katt replies.

"Yeah but sometimes equipment gets lost in field or they break etc, so I like to have reserves." Fox says.

"Fair enough, so correct me if I'm wrong but the mass majority of the weapons look like human made solid projectile weapons." Katt says as she looks around more.

"Good eye, yes these are United Federation Army issue small arms. I struck a deal with Triarii Arms just after the blitz. I needed weapons and they made a me an offer I couldn't refuse." Fox replies.

"But why not blasters I'm sure Space Dynamics would have cut you a decent offer?" Katt asks.

"Simple, for one slug throwers are half the price of blasters. Two slug throwers will pass through most personal barriers. The human army found that out about twenty years ago. More and more people are figuring that out as well, hence the reason why most of the terrorist groups are using them. Unfortunately Cornerian troops still utilize basters and only wear plasma retardant vests and personal barriers." Fox replies.

"Hmn interesting, never though of it like that. So what do we have here for primary weapons?" Katt asks.

Fox then grabs his usual carbine off the rack. "Depends on what your preference is but for me this is what I use. This here is a Triarii M-87 Carbine. It uses 6.8mm tungsten AP rounds with a HUD reflex sight, full length integrated rail system along the barrel and upper receiver, an adjustable forward hand grip, flashlight attachment, telescoping stock, and has an effective rang up to 650m. This is best weapon I've ever used. It's saved my ass more than once." Fox says with great detail.

"Very impressive, but I think I prefer an SMG." Katt replies. Fox then places his carbine back on the rack and grabs one of the sub-machine guns and hands it to her.

"That there is a M-22 4.6mm sub-machine gun. It's the same caliber as that piece of shit you used on Papetoon. But I think you'll find this to be a greatly superior weapon system." Fox says.

"What are its perks?" Katt asks as she examines and takes aim with her new weapon.

"For starts it uses the same type of reflex sight as my M-87. It has a recoil dampening system in it, so the over all recoil is pretty low even when the stock is not extended. Also like my carbine it uses tungsten ammo so it will penetrate light body armor even though its a small caliber round. It has a 40rnd magazine with cycle rate or 950rnds per minute, and has maximum effective range will be about 200m. Which is damn good for an SMG if I do say so myself. " Fox replies.

"I like it. It's small, light weight, and deadly, just like me." Katt boasts. Fox then walks over to one of the lockers and pulls out a protective vest and hands it to her.

"Here try this on. This set of armor already has the ammo pouches for SMGs, grenades, plus a first aid kit on it already. Just FYI it is slightly heavy." Fox says. Katt then puts the heavy duty vest on and adjusts it for comfort.

"I've never seen armor like this before. Is any it any good?" Katt asks as moves around in it testing its flexibility.

"Oh hell yes, this is Komodo Skin Assault Armor used by United Federation Army Rangers. It's made of tightly woven dense polymer fabrics, which is both resistant to pistol rounds and blaster bolts. Underneath it is a titanium alloy plate, one to cover your chest and one for your back, that is rated to stop up to 7.62x51 AP rounds and most blaster rifle bolts. It's some of the finest armor you can bye besides powered armor. What do you think?" Fox says.

"You're right, it is a bit on the heavy side. But it's surprisingly comfortable and doesn't hinder my moment much. I could have used this back on Papetoon. Now how about a decent hand gun?" Katt says. Fox then opens up another locker and hands her a pistol belt w/holster and then hands her the pistol it self.

"This is a Mk-46 .45 ACP combat pistol. It's double action semi-automatic with a 12rnd magazine with a laser grip sight, which is visible up to 50m. It's a very reliable handgun. On the holster it has pouches for two spare magazines as well." Fox replies.

"This is a nice pistol. It fits my hand like a glove and has almost perfect balance. I love the laser sight, built right into the hand grip. That's pretty sweet." Katt says as takes aim.

"I still have several other types of weapons here, but we can go over those later. For now we should go over the mission details. So our target is a Isabella...Ouru..How the hell do you pronounce her name?" Fox says.

"Ourumov." Katt says correcting his faulty attempt at pronouncing her name.

"Whatever, your description of her during the briefing was pretty vague. So what can you tell me about her?" Fox asks wanting to get to the point.

"As said before she's a major business women. She money monger to the core, who runs several major businesses on Usella. I don't know all of them though. but she has her hands in almost all of the major corporations in one shape or another. By far her most well known business though is a casino/night club called The Crescent Moon." Katt replies.

"I've heard of that place. I also heard it's a pretty rough place too." Fox says.

"Indeed it sometimes is. But ironically it is a very classy place at the same time. However since Usella is a corporate controlled world law enforcement tends to be either pretty unreliable or corrupt. So there's a lot of organized crime there as well as a buyers market for mercenary work. Anyways on the upper levels of the casino is her private headquarters, where she runs all of her different businesses. She also has a condo on the top floor, so she spends the majority of her time within that building. The odds of her being there when we arrive should be pretty good." Katt says.

"That's a plus. Now should we be expecting any trouble when we arrive.?" Fox asks.

"I never go there not expecting something to happen, however she tries to keep confrontation to a minimal. Fights and shootings are bad for business. But I advise that we go in armed, the club tends to draw people of all walks of life, but don't go overboard. Were trying to gain her support not cause more issues." Katt replies.

"I know that. Anyways do you think she'll actually help or will she stab us in the back?" Fox asks.

"Honestly Fox I don't know for sure. I've never fully trusted her but at the same time she really betrayed me either. I'm not going to lie to you, this is going to be a risky assignment but it will be our best chance at getting a lead." Katt replies.

"So in other words we watch our asses and be prepared for anything." Fox says.

"Exactly, now I trust that you have some descent civilian attire correct?" Katt asks.

"Of course I do." Fox replies.

"Good, we don't exactly want to go in there looking like a couple of commandos." Katt states.

"Well we are a couple of commandos." Fox says sarcastically.

"That's besides the point. You know what I mean Fox. Also do you have any pistol holsters that are a bit more subtle? We don't need to draw any unnecessary attention?" Katt replies in an annoyed manner.

"One step ahead of you. As long as you have a coat to wear. These should do the job." Fox says and grabs two shoulder harnesses for concealed handguns.

"This will do." Katt replies and takes the harness.

"So how exactly are we going to get up to her quarters? I imagine we can't just go up there and ring the door bell? Plus I'm pretty damn sure if we sneak in that will only discourage her from helping us as well." Fox asks as he fits himself with the shoulder holster for his pistol.

"That's going to be the real trick. But I've got a couple of ideas, not the most subtle but it's worked in the past." Katt replies as she also fits herself with her harness.

"Not very reassuring but I'll take your word for it. Once were in here quarters how should we persuade here? Besides money what would coax her interest?" Fox asks.

"Just let me worry about that. But try to let me do the talking. What's your plan for insertion?" Katt asks.

"Simple we put the Great Fox into orbit fly one of the gunships down to one of the more less populated parts of the city, set the auto pilot and have it fly back up and ROB will take the ship out of orbit and bring it to a spot in space outside most radar detection. Clean and simple." Fox replies.

"Sounds too good to be true." Katt pessimistically responds.

"It's worked for me before like on Papetoon for example. Besides the Usella Directorate isn't looking for us, and it's not like they 'll have blockade of dreadnoughts in orbit either." Fox comments.

"I suppose, but the Crimson Blade is still operating out there and they know were after them. And if they have close ties with Directorate officials they may pull strings to hinder or even kill us." Katt says.

"You need not worry, I'll get us in and out one way or another." Fox says sarcastically.

"I guess I can't argue with that soldier boy. Now any other questions or concerns?" Katt asks.

"Not until we actually speak with her. Once we do we can plan our next move accordingly." Fox replies.

"Agreed." Katt says with a nod.

"Alright then lets grab our gear and load up and prep the gunship." Fox replies.

"Right on Cap." Katt sarcastically says followed by a goofy salute.

Over the next couple of hours Fox and Katt work strenuously to prepare everything they need for their mission. While Fox gathers and loads mission essential equipment, Katt conducts desperately needed maintenance on one of the war-torn gunships. For only about two hours of maintenance progress is greatly shown, and needless to say Fox is rather impressed. Katt was a mechanical and computer genius, nearly rivaling Slippy, although she certainly wasn't a scientist but given the right tools and resources she could build, fix or hack into just about anything. It was always a mystery to Fox regarding her choices in life. She could have gotten a high level job anywhere, whether it was aviation, software, or mechanical design. But she choose to live the life of a gangster smuggler/mercenary. Fox continues to ponder as Katt walks up and snaps her fingers, causing him to jump slightly.

"Damn, you've turned into a spacy fucking guy you know that right?" Katt sarcastically says as she crosses her arms.

"Sorry just seeing you fixing that old bird got wondering that's all." Fox replies.

"About what?" Katt says rather confused.

"It's nothing don't worry about it." Fox says not wanting to pry. Katt, with her arms still crossed, gives a him a rather annoyed almost pissed look. Fox then caves.

"_sigh_..Alright I know it's not my place to ask nor is this the best time to ask either. But..what happened..really?" Fox asked not really being able to put his thoughts to words.

"What do you mean?" Katt replies confusingly not really grasping his meaning.

"What I meant to ask, was how did a person with your vast amounts of skills end up in a gang and smuggling? I mean after the academy you had how many corporations and schools practically begging you to link up with them, but instead you completely disappear until our surprise attack Zoness. You then stayed with us for awhile then vanish again for years, only to turn up here and there. But as I said it's not my place to pry." Fox says in way to avoid pissing her off.

Katt was certainly caught off guard by this, Fox usually wasn't the type to dig at peoples past history for obvious reasons. She then lets out a sigh, lights a cigarette, and sits down on a cargo container.

"I guess I should have figured you would have asked me this sooner or later." Katt says taking a drag from her smoke.

"Look if it's a personnel issue we can just drop it. I don't want to dig up any bad memories." Fox replies trying to change the subject.

"No it's OK. You deserve some answers for how many times you've saved my ass. Hmm..shit I don't even know where to start really. I guess I just never really liked the boring structured lifestyle like my foster father did. You remember him right?" Katt says.

"Oh yeah, Admiral Conners, who could forget him?" Fox replies.

"I owe him a lot. It was him that got me enrolled in the academy. I wanted adventure the stars but inside the hull of a Federation cruiser. I don't know." Katt says.

"Did it have something to do with Falco?" Fox inquires not fully satisfied with Katt's vague response. Unfortunately it appears that his inquiry hit a soft spot that he didn't mean to hit. Katt was a bit taken by it.

"No, at the very beginning of the war maybe, but afterwords we were simply just friends. Even we drifted from one another." Katt replies slightly down.

Despite not really getting any real answers from her, Fox could instantly tell that there was something she was keeping from him. But the real question is what is that is so personnel that it keep her practically on the run for nearly ten years? At this point Fox figures its best to let it go and focus on the task at hand.

"So whats the status of the gunship?" Fox asks trying to change the subject again. However this time it appears to have worked, her mood seemed to have changed almost instantly.

"Pretty damn good if I do say so myself. She's more than ready for this operation. I gave it good tune-up, gave the systems a diagnostics check, and even fixed the shitty patch work." Katt replies rather proud of her work.

"Yeah I'm not too good at patch work as you can tell." Fox admits.

"I'll say, but that's why I'm here. So whats are ETA?" Katt replies and puts out her cigarette.

"We should be coming out of warp in about fifteen minutes. I got our gear squared away and loaded up. All we need to do is change in to better civilian attire and load up the bike." Fox comments.

"Got enough guns in there? Were conducting an espionage mission not conducting a guerrilla raid." Katt replies as she looks at all the equipment Fox loaded up.

"Yes I'm aware but if the Crimson Blade has active cells down there. I want to take them out before they can cause more damage, or hell even tip the rest of their organization off of our activities here." Fox analytically says.

"Fair enough, and as far as the bike goes, I can't believe I'm saying this but I think it's best we leave it here." Katt protests.

"Why?" Fox wonders.

"One to reduce excess weight, two I think it would be better if we showed up in a cab. We'll draw less attention that way. Although we would lose our advantage of an escape vehicle, still this is last place we want to draw unnecessary attention at. As long as we stay clear of sketchy looking individuals we shouldn't have a need to escape." Katt says with confidence.

"Hmn..I'm inclined to disagree but I'll trust your judgment. So if this things ready to launch go get changed and met me on the bridge when your done." Fox says.

"If were that close shouldn't we just come back to the hanger?" Katt inquires.

"We could but I want to on the bridge when we exit warp, just in case we get attacked, hailed by customs or something." Fox replies.

"Ah always thinking ahead. I swear you should have stay in the military. They would have made you a general." Katt says.

"Maybe, anyways I'll see you on the bridge." Fox replies and starts walking out of the hanger.

"Roger that." Katt says.

Great Fox command deck 17:10 shipboard time.

After changing into some more expensive cloths, Fox stands in front of the of window of the bridge patiently waiting for his ship to come out of warp. As he continues to wait he hears the doors hiss open behind him.

"That was fast. Most women spend all day getting ready for an event that last one hour." Fox says sarcastically.

"What can I say. I clean up quick unlike most girls. By the way nice get up." Katt says.

Fox was wearing a semi-formal t-shirt, cargo pants, and a leather coat all matching black. While Katt wore a black trench coat, red tank top and very expensive blue jeans.

"Likewise. I assume your ready to go?" Fox asked.

"Always." Katt replies.

Fox then looks at his extremely valuable aviator wrist watch, then looks back at Katt.

"Get ready to brace yourself." Fox advises.

"Got it." Katt replies and sits down and grabs a hold of her chair.

"Fox we are arriving at our destination, cutting in sub-light engines 3..2..1..mark." ROB warns.

The ship rocks as the ship practically comes to a halt. In the distance the Usella was fully visible. Even from space the lights from the massive cities were absolutely brilliant. Along with the lights, the engine emissions from hundreds of ships of varies sizes could be seen. The ships ranged from small personnel craft to gargantuan cargo freighters that were hundreds of feet long.

"As much as I hate this planet the view up here is beautiful." Katt comments as she peers out in awe.

"ROB any sign of possible hostile ships in area?" Fox asks paying little mind to the outside view.

"Scanners show no sign of military grade warships or fighters at this time." ROB answers.

"That's a plus. OK ROB maintain this position until further notice. You know the drill." Fox instructs.

"Roger that Fox." ROB acknowledges.

"Lets move out." Fox says.

"The hunt begins." Katt says as they walk out of the bridge.

Authors notes: Well took long enough. I've had an extremely busy summer. The next chapter will finally be the actual mission. As always I want to thank you all for reading and that I appreciate any feedback you give me.


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